Day: August 3, 2022

Closing Thought–03Aug22

There is a financial trend that seems to be gathering more and more popularity……cryptocurrency.

My daughter has ventured into this and her investment is not paying off as well as she had hoped…..and with any financial thing there is always the chance of fraud……and crypto is no different…..

Cryptocurrency firm Forsage used technology undreamt of when Charles Ponzi was ripping off investors in the 1920s but regulators say the basic idea was the same: A scam in which investors promised big returns were paid off with money from later investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged 11 people in connection with the scheme, which the regulator says raised more than $300 million from investors in the US and elsewhere, CBS reports. The SEC says Forsage was a pyramid scheme as well as a Ponzi scheme, with investors making profits by recruiting others. Investors were promised a “powerful long-term source of passive income.”

When it was launched in early 2020, Forsage claimed to be a decentralized smart contract platform operating on the Ethereum, Tron and Binance blockchains, but regulators say its real function was scamming investors, reports CNBC. “As the complaint alleges, Forsage is a fraudulent pyramid scheme launched on a massive scale and aggressively marketed to investors,” Carolyn Welshhans, acting chief of the SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, said in a statement. “Fraudsters cannot circumvent the federal securities laws by focusing their schemes on smart contracts and blockchains.”

The SEC says it charged Forsage’s four founders—Vladimir Okhotnikov, Jane Doe aka Lola Ferrari, Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov—who are believed to be living in Russia, the Republic of Georgia, and Indonesia. The SEC charged another seven people with violating federal securities laws, including members of the “Crypto Crusaders,” a group that promoted the scheme in the US, TechCrunch reports. The regulator says two of the defendants have agreed to settle the charges.

Settle on charges?

They were defrauding investors…..no settling should be involved….doing time and make them  pay through the nose and ban them from ever working in financial markets again.

If you are considering this investment remember one thing…..Buyer Beware…..If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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That China Thing

I have noticed that my posts on Ukraine are drawing very little attention……seems readers have lost all interest in the conflict while the US packs money into the country at an alarming rate.

The focus now is on China and Taiwan….gives the armchair analyst lots to write about (for now)….

For a couple of years now we have been told that China was on the move and becoming a major player in the Pacific……it has been sold as important so much so that Pelosi had to go to Asia and Taiwan especially to illustrate the US commitment to the region.

Pelosi’s most controversial visit is of course with Taiwan…..and she has an explanation (none of which is valid in my opinion)…..

Just minutes after Nancy Pelosi touched down in Taiwan, a piece she wrote for the Washington Post went live. Titled “Why I’m leading a congressional delegation to Taiwan,” Pelosi quite simply explains that very thing. Some key lines:

  • “In the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) accelerating aggression, our congressional delegation’s visit should be seen as an unequivocal statement that America stands with Taiwan, our democratic partner, as it defends itself and its freedom.”
  • “Our visit—one of several congressional delegations to the island—in no way contradicts the long-standing one-China policy [which recognizes, but does not endorse, China’s position that Taiwan is its territory], guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, the US-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. The United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo.”

“America’s solidarity with Taiwan is more important today than ever—not only to the 23 million people of the island but also to millions of others oppressed and menaced by the PRC [People’s Republic of China].”

“We take this trip at a time when the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy. As Russia wages its premeditated, illegal war against Ukraine, killing thousands of innocents—even children—it is essential that America and our allies make clear that we never give in to autocrats.”

AS if on cue China responds to Pelosi…..

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement of its own upon Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan. It reads in part: “Congress, as a part of the US Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe the one-China policy of the US Government and refrain from having any official exchanges with China’s Taiwan region. China is all along opposed to the visit to Taiwan by US congressional members, and the US executive branch has the responsibility to stop such visit. Since Speaker Pelosi is the incumbent leader of the US Congress, her visit to and activities in Taiwan, in whatever form and for whatever reason, is a major political provocation.”

As for what the White House is saying, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN Pelosi’s visit “is completely consistent with American policy. No change to our One China policy … There should be no reason for them to use this visit as some sort of a pretext for any kind of action that would escalate tensions.”

China reactions……

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the announcements from China were “unfortunately right in line with what we had anticipated,” the Washington Post reports. Kirby said there is no reason for “Beijing to turn this visit, which is consistent with long-standing US policy, into some sort of crisis, or use it as a pretext to increase aggressiveness and military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait.” He added: “We are prepared to manage what Beijing chooses to do. At the same time, we will not engage in saber-rattling.”

Analysts say that while the exercises will temporarily block some Taiwanese ports, China appears to be planning a show of strength but not an invasion of the island, reports the New York Times. But with tensions high, there is a chance that an accidental encounter between the Chinese and Taiwanese militaries that could spark a conflict. In a fiery editorial, the state-run Global Times said “forces like Pelosi” could not stop “full reunification” of the mainland and Taiwan—and she should pay a price for the “reckless” visit. “We should make people like Pelosi understand that Taiwan is not a place where they can visit at will,” the editorial said.

Even the people of Taiwan is not thrilled about Pelosi’s visit……

Many of the island’s 23.5 million people, said Yang, “are saying that she is causing trouble” while many more “do not care much about it.” They were inclined to shrug it off while obsessed with “domestic issues that are much bigger and attracting more attention than Pelosi’s visit.”

With Pelosi now firmly on the disputed Chinese territory, the ball is in China’s court to fire back. There was no doubt her visit would be filled with nothing but upbeat statements and expressions of friendship, but all the happy talk isn’t likely to convince a lot of people on Taiwan that her presence is an unmixed blessing.

This mash-up is starting to look like provocation to me.

Taiwan is a convenient spot to make a stand….if not for Taiwan where would it be?

Nothing more than a simple way to keep cash flowing from treasury to the defense industry.

Once this situation is lost in the headlines….where will we be sending our cash?

Could all this just be a fake?

From the front pages of The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Economist, to The New York Times’ Best Sellers List; from CNN and MSNBC to FOX and NEWSMAX; from think tanks to Pentagon planners, congressional testimonies and White House statements: CHINA! So singularly focused and omnipresent has the narrative of the China Threat become, one can be forgiven for forgetting that China is in fact a middle income country of modest capabilities and with no stated intention of doing any harm to Americans or the United States. Further, that China is not bent on world domination; and further still, as shall be clearly demonstrated, even if it secretly were there is a negligible chance of that coming to pass whatever Beijing’s efforts.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-fake-china-threat-and-its-very-real-danger/

Just a thought.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”